Impulse-wheel.



No. 743,023. PATENTED NOV. 3, 1903. LA VERNE W. NOYES.

IMPULSE WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14., 1897.

N0 MODEL.

nois, have invented a certain new and useful UNITED STATES Patented November 3, 1903.

LA VERNE W. NOYES, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IMPULSE-WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 743,023, dated November 1903- Application filed June 14, 1897. Serial No, 640,599. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, LA VERNE W. NOYES, a citizen of-the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illi- Improvement in Impulse-Wheels, of which the following is a full,clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to an impulse-wheel, my object being to provide a wheel formed of a single piece of metal and having the buckets or vanes arranged and constructed in such a manner as to produce a maximum efficiency of operation, while accomplishing such an even balancing of the wheel as to permit the same to be run at a very high rate of speed.

My invention comprises a rotating disk formed of a single piece of metal and having buckets cut in the periphery thereof, each of the buckets having a semicircular bottom wall and side walls which extend oblique to the radius of the disk, so that during the rotation the lower end of the bucket is inadvance of the upper or open end, said walls being also perpendicular to the plane of rotation of the disk, while the walls of adjacent buckets intersect along a thin edge, one or more nozzles being placed in position to direct fluid into the buckets upon one side of each bucket, while leaving the other side of the bucket open to the free escape of the fluid without impact with any stationary abutment.

I have illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a,view in elevation of the impulse-wheel of my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2 2, Fig. i. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3 3, Fig. 2. Fig. at is a sectional view on line 4. 4:, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5 5, Fig. 2. 7

Like letters refer to like parts in the several figures.

The wheel a is of a disk shape and is cut away on the periphery to form a series of buckets of a, separated by vanes a. The buckets extend at an angle with the radius," the forward wall a being formed in practice at an angle of about forty-two degrees with the radius, while the rear wall a? makes an angle of about fifty-two degrees with the radius. These angles give very satisfactory results in practice, but may be varied within limits without departing from the spirit of my invention. The rear wall a preferably makes a greater angle with the radius than the forward wall to provide a sharp edge upon the vane a to thereby sever the impelling column of fluid and direct the same into the successive buckets without disturbance. The bottom walls of the buckets are semicircular in form or curved laterally, so that the operating fluidas air, steam, or water may be admitted at one side of the bucket and pass out at the other side, the fluid being deflected by the semicircular wall and leaving the bucket in a direction substantially opposite to the direction of impulse, the whole of the energy of the fluid due to its velocity being thus utilized in producing motion. The fluid striking the semicircular and front walls of the bucket thus exerts a force having a tangential component which impels the wheel. The nozzles 12 b, one or more in number, rest with their axes quite close to the tangent to thereby direct the impelling column of fluid in the most efficient direction. The nozzles are situated upon one side of the wheel, and the fluid passes from the buckets at the opposite side.

In practice I provide a hollow ring a, surrounding the periphery of the wheel upon one side, the hollow ring being preferably formed from a cast portion 0, having a ring a shrunk thereon. An inlet-pipe d admits the impelling fluid to the interior of the hollow ring, and a series of exit-ducts b b are provided through the inner wall of the hollow ring to constitute. the nozzle. Valves e e are provided in the several ducts for controlling the supply of fluid to the wheel.

I find that by making the bottom walls of the buckets of exactly semicircular form, with the edges of the vanes which separate the buckets forming the diameters of the several semicircles, the wheel can be caused to rotate at sucha rate that its peripheral velocity is practically double the velocity of the V jet of impelling fluid, and the whole of the velocity of the jet is utilized in producing motion, and the jet leaves the exit end of the bucket practically without velocity, the only movement being that necessary to crowd the discharged fluid out of the path of the constant discharge. In order that a tool may be brought close enough to the periphery to cut the bottom wall of the bucket truly semicircular, I form a groove about the periphery of the disk, and in order that the wheel may be perfectly balanced the groove is formed equidistant between the edges of the periphery of the disk, and the bottom walls of the buckets are formed concentric to the axis thereof. The wheel must be truly balanced, since it rotates at a very high speed, and any slight unbalancing Will be fraught with disastrous results in the operation of the wheel.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a wheel having peripheral buckets thereon, of ahollow annular ring for the distribution of the impelling fluid surrounding said wheel and having ports to deliver the fluid to one side of said buckets, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a wheel having peripheral buckets formed thereon, of a hollow annular ring for the distribution of the impelling fluid surrounding said wheel and having ports to deliver the fluid to one side of said buckets, and means for preventing the escape of the fluid except on one side of the wheel, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a wheel having peripheral buckets formed thereon, of a hollow annular ring, for, the distribution of (the impellin g fluid, having on one side an inwardlyextending flange against which said wheel is adapted to fit, said ring having ports formed thereon to deliver the fluidto one side of the buckets and said flange preventing the escape of the fluid except on one side of the wheel.

4. In an impulse-wheel,the combination with a stationary annular hollow part for the distribution of theimpellingfluid havingon one side a circular recess orinset, of a wheel formed of a single integral disk of metal extending into said recess or inset and closely fitting the same,the thickness of said wheel being greater than the depth of the recess so that it extends outwardlyloeyond the face of said hollow part, said disk having semicircular transverse grooves cut in the periphery thereof and extending at an angle to the radius, said grooves forming the buckets of the wheel to receive the impelling fluid, and the dividing-walls between adjacent grooves consisting of flat surfaces melting at the periphery of the disk to form sharp edges which sever the fluid streams without material loss of power, said semicircular outlines and flat faces permitting the grooves to be formed by a single cut for each face of an ordinary rotary tool, the said stationary hollow part having passages from the hollow annular chamber to the periphery of said recess or inset and forming nozzles to di rect the fluid into said buckets, the said passages being arranged at intervals around said hollow part and having their axes quite close to the tangent of the wheel to thereby direct the fluid in the most efficient direction, a cock or valve in each said passage operated from the exterior of the stationary partso that the number of passages and hence the power developed by the wheel may be varied at will, i

and a connection from a source of fluidsupply to said hollow annular part, the arrangement being such that the said buckets have only one side covered by said inset or recess whereby the fluid directed into the buckets from the nozzles is freely discharged from the LA VERNE IV. NOYES.

\Vitnesses:

W. CLYDE J onns, M. R. ROCHFORD. 

